Avoidance Got My Fridge Clean
Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 9, 2010
I was lacking in inspiration for things to do or for things to possibly write about on Monday, so I settled on reading from a textbook that I’ll be getting to know over the next few weeks for a project management course I’m taking.
The class starts Thursday – I made it to Page 4 of the book before I was inspired to do anything but read that thing.
This was also after some mindless TV watching, so I put Mamma Mia!
After loading the dishwasher and hand washing a few leftover dishes, I could have gone back to reading my textbook. One glance at it sitting on the ottoman, however, made my brain decide it was time to clean out the fridge.
Who could have guessed that thoroughly cleaning out a fridge is more than just a 30 minute job? Ok, maybe it is a quick job for someone who regularly cleans stuff. I’ve been living here for almost five years, and we’ve never cleaned the thing out. I feel safe in saying that Helper Troy probably didn’t clean it when he moved in before filling it with stuff either.
A couple hours later, I’ve managed to remove everything, take out all the shelves and drawers, wash them, wash the inside of the fridge, dry everything and put it all back in. It looks amazingly clean … as long as you don’t take the bottom drawers and shelf out and see the part that was absolutely impossible to chip or dissolve out of the bottom.
Ew, I know.
Double “ew” if tell you how old some of the stuff was in there that got thrown out. Some sauces and jars of stuff were dated back to 2008. There was also a small container of unidentifiable hairy green stuff that I’m not sure how long was in there.
By the time all this was done, it was time to make dinner, which made my earlier cleaning of the kitchen seem like a pointless endeavor. It’ll be on my list of things to do again today. But at least the fridge is still clean!
My other time-killing, avoidance-of-the-boring-book plan for the evening was to finally finish up the laundry and actually get it all put away. There were baskets of clean clothes in our bedroom that had been there for perhaps more than a month.
Again, folding and hanging and putting away took a lot longer than I expected. But at least I figured out that underpants gnomes haven’t been stealing my underthings.
Accomplishing those two things at least made me feel like I “did” something on Monday. It also prompted me to make a mental list of lots of other things I could do this week. It’s a secret, internal list, though, so if I don’t do anything, nobody but me knows that fact.
At least I can mark three things off that list from yesterday:
- Clean the fridge.
- Put laundry away.
- Get gnome traps.
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Review: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 8, 2010
Cryptonomicon is a book my husband picked up a while ago. I discovered it on our dusty bookshelf and decided to give it a look.
This book is 1,130 pages long, and I do mean long. Only through sheer will did I make it through the first 200-300 pages to finally get to the point where I was hooked and needed to see how the rest of the story was going to play out. (I’m pretty sure Troy didn’t make it to that point. A dog-eared Page 263 marks where he gave up.)
Those first few hundred pages are killer if you aren’t into math, math theories or the computers business. They are a necessarily evil to endure, though to learn ore about the characters in both the past and the present story lines taking place. If you can endure, both storylines eventually get more exciting, and by the time they do, you’re also emotionally invested in some of the characters and what to see what happens to them.
The structure of the storytelling was a large part of what got me through to that point. Neal Stephenson splits his story into several plot lines, some following characters in the past and some in the story’s present. It’s a bit of a tease knowing that all those story lines will eventually have to collide, and until they do, you keep reading wondering when and how it will happen.
Stephenson uses this flawlessly in Cryptonomicon, even bringing in another character’s story line late in the novel and making it blend seamlessly. I’m amazed that he was able to eventually weave so many tales together by the end and keep it all straight.
Not all the tales woven in were interesting to me. For the most part, I enjoyed the ones set in the past the most. They had the most exciting action. It wasn’t until more of the past crept into and influenced the present storyline that I got more into it too. That’s also when the present storyline gets more action-packed like the past storyline, so naturally it gets more exciting to read.
So even though it took longer than normal to get into, Cryptonomicon does reward the readers who make it. Stephenson lays out his story well, and it is rich with detail and action.
One complaint I do have is that perhaps there was a little too much detail at times. There were several pages going over math, equations or code formulas that I skipped over entirely, and I still comprehended the story just fine.
Another complain is that after 1,130 pages, I didn’t feel the ending sufficiently resolved the story. Or at the very least it didn’t resolve all the questions I still had, and I was hoping there would be an epilogue to solve that problem. No such luck. (Spoiler alert!)
Did Bischoff survive?
They couldn’t leave the gold in the mountain by the end, so what did they end up doing with it?
Does the Crypt ever get finished, and how does the Epiphyte company and it’s creators come out in the end?
Do they ever realize how closely they’re all connected through their families’ histories?
Inquiring minds want to know, and I find these lingering questions incredibly frustrating. That could be because I just finished the book. I haven’t had a few days to let it settle in my mind. Maybe then I’ll think of these questions as a sign the story was so good I didn’t want it to end. That would be a good indicator that I, and many others, will be seeking out more Neal Stephenson novels.
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Tags: book review, books, cryptonomicon, Reviews
Professional Purse
Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 6, 2010
After spending a large chunk of Thursday working on job applications, I couldn’t help but wonder what else I could be doing to improve my chances of eventually finding a job.
Or you could say I was wondering what I’m doing wrong that I haven’t been offered a job yet.
I’ve continued to update and polish my resume. Plus I actually do take the time to tailor it and my cover letters to each specific job. On top of that, I also whittle my application list down to the jobs I’m truly interested in. I might get more overall responses if I flooded the market with applications, but I’m interested in quality of leads over quantity.
Plus it takes a lot of time and effort to put together a good application, and I don’t want to spend that time on a job I’m not all that interested in.
And it seems to be working, somewhat. I’ve had a few calls and interview, but the closest I’ve come to landing a job offer is being told that I’d made the top three candidates list for a position.
But me telling you all this is really just my way of waving my hands in the air and saying, “See, I’m doing my best!” in a great effort to conceal the fact that it must be something in the interview/call process that is breaking down in the job hunt. So while I know I look good on paper, there is something about me or what I’m saying or how I look that isn’t working in person.
On Friday I stopped in at a thrift store on my walk home from the post office. I was about to walk away emty-handed when I spotted a nice leather purse hanging on the back wall.
“Aha!” my brain said. “Perhaps the problem is that you don’t look professional enough.”
I’m not generally a purse person. I have a small wallet with a strap that I sling across my body. It has just enough room for my cellphone, a little cash, credit cards and ID. When I need a bigger back, I have a cool looking satchel that I love but isn’t any more professional looking. Neither look good with a suit, and both are about as casual as you can get with a bag aside from just using a duffel or backpack.
Hanging by itself on the wall of this little hole-in-the-wall thrift store, however, is a true, grown-up girl purse. It’s brown leather is still in pristine condition, and it has pockets and openings to actually organize and store what you’re putting into it. Most importantly, it actually looks like it belongs slung on the shoulder of a business suit.
“$3 for a grown-up, professional purse certainly can’t hurt my job efforts when I do get another interview,” my brain rationalizes.
My brain wins out, but it doesn’t know that the bigger trick will be using the professional purse without feeling like a kid playing dress-up. (And yes, I’m well aware that is probably the bigger problem – not the lack of a good purse.) I’ve managed to master wearing nicer clothes and even girly clothes without feeling unnatural about it, but I still have problems with that powerful, professional look.
It’s not that I don’t have the education or the experience to back it up. Once I’m in a job, I have the goods and the work ethic and adaptability to do well. I just haven’t quite mastered the kid in me that wonders how in the world I’ve managed to make it this far without the grownups finding out.
But like the girly clothes and dressing in things other than baggy t-shirts and blue jeans, it just takes one step at a time to find the comfort. A professional purse might be my first step.
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Tags: job hunting, purses, shopping, unemployement
Haiku for You!
Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 5, 2010
You never know when inspiration is going to strike. This week it struck me in haiku form.
Pink petal bombs burst
Punching holes in steel-gray skies
Spring peeks through the clouds
Filed Under: Creative Writing - Comments: Be the First to Comment
Tags: Creative Writing, haiku, poetry
Series Commitment Challenged
Posted by Cynical Sarah on
I’m about to commit blasphemy in the eyes of many TV watchers that I know. I didn’t enjoy watching Heroes; in fact I didn’t even make it through the first season. Similarly, I really only make it though full seasons of 24 because Helper Troy enjoys the show (and because of Keifer Sutherland).
It’s not about the genre of the show. Goodness knows I love me a good drama – I can’t get enough of shows like Criminal Minds, the various CSIs and Bones.
The difference has to do with my patience with the story telling. I like my TV shows to be in bite-size packages. Give me a story that wraps up in an hour. I’ll forgive you for one that’s continued one more episode, or even for a background storyline that flows through several episodes, but make sure there’s some sort of main story that gets closure each time.
Take for instance CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. There was the season with the miniature killer. We were introduced to the killer in an episode, and it wasn’t completely resolved, but instead of dragging out the story over the rest of the season, we got to see other cases come up and get solved. Meanwhile there are hints back to the miniature killer until we finally get to see the case resolved at the end of the season.
Compare that to 24. Nothing ever really gets resolved until the very last episode of the season.
There are no bite size pieces you can be satisfied with. Once you’re sucked into 24 or Heroes, you have to stick around and eat the whole thing. Even with the freedom of the DVR making sure we’re getting them all and giving us the freedom to watch them on our own time, I just don’t like being tied to a TV show like that.
Maybe I have TV commitment issues. I don’t want to be tied down for life to a show, I’m just looking for a booty call. An hour of entertainment when I’m bored, that’s it.
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Tags: 24, csi, tv, tv series, tv shows
Me and Spidey in the Unemployment Line
Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 2, 2010
It’s either a slow news day or a sign of how bad the economy is when MSN’s Money Central site does an article about Spider-Man losing his job in an upcoming edition of the comic book.
Poor Peter Parker and I will be in the same boat, looking for jobs while trying to still find ways to save the world. At least I don’t have to worry about bad guys wrecking my suits during scuffles. People are going to be suspicious if Parker is having to rummage through the scrap bins at the fabric store for pieces to patch together his costume.
My advice to Spidey: thrift stores actually have some good finds. The Halloween costume stuff should be dirt cheep this time of year; lots of Spider-Man costumes should be on the racks ready-made and ready to go.
You’d also be amazed at what dollar stores have. Perhaps there’s a way to make web juice from dollar store glue? Stock up on that plus some crackers, popcorn, even cans of fruit and vegetables, maybe even a cake mix. If you aren’t concerned about proper nutrition, you could survive for quite a while on dollar store food.
There’s plenty of tips and tricks to conserving what money you have and what little you’ll get in unemployment checks.
President Obama said today that one of his top jobs is to make sure that people who are able to work and want to work have jobs out there for them. Maybe the timing is right for Spider-Man to put in a little paycheck request to the police commissioner. Sure it takes his hero points down a notch or two if he’s fighting evil for money, but it’s what police officers do. And a web slingers gotta eat too.
Plus, coming from the journalism world myself, I know Parker couldn’t have been making much working on the paper. Even if he could get work doing freelance photography again, he’s not going to make much with that either. Police work will probably pay a lot better.
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Tags: economy, spider-man, unemployment
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